Mon Valley won’t have to travel far to play for a world-renowned youth baseball championship.
The local team of 13- and 14-year olds advanced to the Pony League World Series set for Aug. 9-14 at Lew Hays Pony Field in Washington, Pa.
Mon Valley will open the double-elimination tournament 4:30 p.m. Aug. 9 against Palmview, Texas.
Mon Valley (11-0) won the nine-team Host-Area Zone Tournament, which was open to Pony teams within a 75-mile radius of Washington, to gain an automatic bid into the series.
The team went 4-0 with single wins over Peters Township and Beaver County, and two against Youngstown, including a 4-3, come-from-behind victory in the championship. It outscored its opponents 38-10.
“Just about everyone can pitch, and we’ve got lots of guys who can play multiple positions,” Mon Valley manager Jason Plymire said in a Pony news release. “We hit a lot.”
Mon Valley’s team has players from Belle Vernon, Brownsville, Donora, Elizabeth Forward and Ringgold.
Team members are: A.J. Watson (Belle Vernon Area Pony, Belle Vernon), Ben Lilley (Brownsville Pony, Albert Gallatin), Braylon Schoch (Brownsville Pony, Brownsville), Camden Matusik (Rostraver Pony, Belle Vernon), Cam Black (Belle Vernon Area Pony, Belle Vernon), Connor David (Ringgold Pony, Ringgold), Cooper Cetera (Brownsville Pony, Brownsville), Demaris Tolliver (Donora Pony, Ringgold), Derek Dunlevy (Ringgold Pony, Ringgold), Jack Crovak (Elizabeth Forward), Jesse Sobczak (Rostraver Pony, Belle Vernon), Kennedy Nash (Ringgold Pony, Ringgold), Lucas Kear (Belle Vernon Area Pony, Belle Vernon), Michael Green (Ringgold Pony, Ringgold) and Zach Plymire (Belle Vernon Area Pony, Belle Vernon).
The 20-mile trip down Route 70 is a memorable experience in waiting, Plymire said. Teams from all over the globe will converge on Washington County, including Chinese Taipei, Spain, Puerto Rico, Mexico and others.
“This will be a special experience for the boys,” Plymire said. “This group is a team. We’ve got kids from multiple different communities, and it’s really exciting to see how they have all come together.”
Mon-Yough was the last team from the Mon Valley to reach the Pony World Series, going 1-2 in the 2013 tournament in Washington.
Mon Valley had a team win the World Series in 1954.
